ZIP 61731 vs ZIP 61720

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61731 (Cropsey, IL) and ZIP 61720 (Anchor, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61731 has a population of 280 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 61720 has 236 at 3 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 61731 reports a median household income of — against $91,250 in ZIP 61720, with per-capita income of $45,147 vs $47,414. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 61731 and 14.4% in 61720. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $181,000 in 61731 versus $110,800 in 61720, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 62.8%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.